1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is data processing, or, more specifically, methods and apparatus for Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) security in an RFID-enabled medium.
2. Description of Related Art
The development of the EDVAC computer system of 1948 is often cited as the beginning of the computer era. Since that time, computer systems have evolved into extremely complicated devices. Today's computers are much more sophisticated than early systems such as the EDVAC. Computer systems typically include a combination of hardware and software components, application programs, operating systems, processors, buses, memory, input/output devices, and so on. As advances in semiconductor processing and computer architecture push the performance of the computer higher and higher, more sophisticated computer software has evolved to take advantage of the higher performance of the hardware, resulting in computer systems today that are much more powerful than just a few years ago.
One area of technology in which advances have been made is Radio Frequency Identification (‘RFID’). RFID tags are increasingly more common in credit cards, debit cards, medical record cards, driver's licenses, government issued identification cards, passports, and so on. Such RFID tags generally store user's private information or keys to accessing such information. Current RFID technology however, being ‘always-on,’ is prone to data theft, maliciously tracking an individual through RFID tags, and so on. Current technology to deactivate an RFID tag is typically a mechanical switch, prone to accidental operation, physically cumbersome in smaller applications, costly, and prone to failure due to physical wear.